Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Are you...

... drinking your water? Experts say that you should drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day on average and increase that amount by one glass for every 25 pounds that you are overweight. (Apparently I should be drinking Lake Superior.)

Drinking that much water supposedly helps you lose weight and be healthy by decreasing your appetite, flushing your body of "stored" water, hydrating your skin for a more youthful appearance, helping your kidneys and liver work more efficiently, and increasing your metabolism. (See this article for more information about the benefits of drinking lots of water.)

I've been trying to increase my water consumption each day. I'm still drinking a soft drink every now and then, and I'd like to quit them completely, but it's hard to do. Sometimes that caffeine and sugar are irresistible. I'll keep working on it. But tell me, are you drinking that much water? And if you are, is it helping you win the weight war?

3 comments:

Jean said...

Whoa back on the attempt to guzzle Lake Superior. You CAN drink too much water (and people have died from it).

This is what seems to help me, so I'll share it in case it might help someone else.

I bought 4 Camelback 1 liter bottles, and before Christmas, I was doing a good job of guzzling three of them a day. That's either 3 liters or 72 ounces, depending upon how you count them. I found it pretty easy to do, but while I was away for the holidays, I slipped away from that (didn't take them home with me -- but I still was pulling water out of the fridge right and left, so I may have done ok). I'm ramping back up, and have gone through about two bottles today.

For me, I was getting tired of throwing away plastic bottles, and I wanted a reusable I could wash. And I didn't want to refill during the day, so I bought several and lug them to work in a grocery bag and store them in my mini-fridge I keep in the office. I don't mind room temperature water, but I must admit the chilled water is nice.

SBB said...

I have a water filter at home, and I fill up a thermos and take it to work with me each day. I usually refill it at lunch. I have difficulty drinking warm water so I prefer it chilled.

Jean said...

That's a good plan.